


The (W)right Stuff

by shutuptom



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 21:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutuptom/pseuds/shutuptom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is a grump.<br/>Yusuf is flush with cash.<br/>Who knows what Eames is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arthur

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a semi-organized chronological ficlet dump that started off as a college AU and quickly transformed into whatever hulking creature it is now.

Coming to this party was an absolute mistake and the moment Arthur finally wedges his dusty, grey Volkswagen Golf between two shiny silver Priuses (after three embarrassment-filled minutes of trying to find the right angle to back up in), he knows he's going to spend the next forty-five minutes to an hour-and-a-half kicking himself for being peer pressured into attending.

  
"Arthur, you've missed my last three get-togethers and one of them was for your own birthday, you absolute ingrate," Yusuf had said three days earlier over a cup over-steeped tea in Arthur's cramped studio apartment. "There are only so many times that your grandma can be ill or you have to watch someone's cat before I cotton on and start taking personal offense. It's Ariadne's _birthday_ ; It's funny how you think you have a choice in the matter."

  
Arthur honestly didn't know why him and Yusuf were still friends, and he made it a point to remind Yusuf of this. "Just because 'Arthur Wright' happened to come right before 'Yusuf Yadav' on a roster sheet in freshman year of high school doesn't mean we're obligated to stay friends now that we've graduated college," Arthur replied, by rote, grimacing as he finished swallowing down the dregs of the same tea he offered Yusuf in some misguided attempt at being a good host. Him questioning the relevance of their friendship aloud was a bi-weekly occurrence. It was complete bullshit, though, and Yusuf knew it, as he would always flash a toothy grin, tut, then shake his head disbelievingly. That's just how things were between them since Day One: Arthur was infinitely put-upon and Yusuf, annoyingly enthusiastic and persistent.

  
So that's how Arthur finds himself folded neatly into the least populated corner of Yusuf's not-so-humble abode; staring quizzically at a crystal tumbler containing a bright, purple liquid that somehow found its way into his hand and holding Ariadne's gift--a hastily wrapped copy of _Minimalist Architecture_ \--close to his chest, as if setting it down will somehow make it vanish into thin air. He gives himself a two-hour cut-off and has already come up with three plausible scenarios to fob off on Yusuf if he tries to make him stay even a minute longer than that.


	2. Yusuf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusuf doesn't get enough credit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started off writing this as what I assumed was going to be a shameless pwp fill and I somehow found myself writing about Yusuf in college. Go figure.

Yusuf picked up something of a reputation back in college for the exclusive and extravagant parties he would throw on a near-monthly basis--even changing the name on his Facebook profile to "Yusuf 'You-Ain't-Invited' Yadav." Born the only child to Aamir Yadav and Parminder Mohabir--the CFO and CEO to a major pharmaceutical company, respectively--Yusuf was always afforded the luxuries that almost all only-children whose parents were workaholics were afforded; in short, he was a spoiled, pampered brat. That wasn't to say that he rubbed it in everyone's face, but anyone who was anyone knew that his family was loaded and that he had zero qualms about throwing his family's cash around, whether it be to help a buddy pay off his student loans, or, more often, renting a yacht because hey, it was _the weekend._

Despite the fact that Yusuf's whole academic career could be summed up by a comment left on his 3rd grade report card, and variations thereof on every report card thereafter--

  
_"Yusuf is extremely intelligent but he continually fails to apply himself."_

  
\--he made his family proud when graduated _magna cum laude_ with a degree in Chemistry from UCLA, and in true Yusuf form, he chose to frame and proudly hang the diploma he received from National Bartenders for completing an intensive six-week class in flair bartending while his university credentials sat at the bottom of a box collecting dust in his bedroom closet.

So yes, Yusuf's parties are extremely elaborate and Ariadne's 24th birthday is no exception. His two-story condo up in the hills of Silver Lake is clearly nothing to sneeze at and he spares absolutely no expense for Ari's special day. The floor-to-ceiling windows have been draped with flowing spirals of silver tinsel and strings of hundreds of tiny silver beads, with the full-stocked bar, DJ console, stairwell, and second-story banisters receving the same treatment. There are waitstaff scuttling around in white tuxedos holding serving platters of everything from pink champagne to PBR, and there is an honest-to-god disco ball the size of Arthur's car hanging over what appears to be the designated dance floor, showering the forty plus people dancing below with hundreds of droplets of reflected light. 


End file.
